Fore!

Warner is pretty pumped about our new golf cart at Woodson Bend.
(He thinks he can drive it himself.)

First Boating Experience

Warner took his first ride on the boat this weekend. All in all it was a good experience, with the exception of the life jacket. You would think they could design life vests that don't squish children's cheeks and touch their ears by now, but apparently they haven't come that far yet.
We tried unfastening the top buckle, but that didn't seem to make a difference.
Uncle Justin thought the handle was pretty neat. He figures we can just dip Warner into the lake when he gets hot using this little device.
"You mean we do this all summer long, Grandpa?"

God's Country

We took advantage of Kevin's day off and the good weather yesterday and went to Oxford (God's Country) for the day. It was Warner's first visit to Miami's campus and I was so excited to show him around! Technically he's been there once before - last fall, in utero. I've included a picture of that trip for the record.Our first stop was Bagel & Deli (of course!) for lunch. I can't WAIT to introduce Warner to their fine cuisine. Although Warner couldn't enjoy a Blonde Bombshell at Bagel & Deli, he is enjoying his new puff cereal bits that he feeds himself. We visited my good friend Kelly while in Chicago last weekend, and her 8 month old son Truman shared a few of his puffs with Warner. I got Warner some of his own the next day and I think he likes them. Next we hit the bookstores for over-priced Miami gear, and then finished with a walk around campus.
Warner has become quite good at showing off his new bottom teeth. I believe this picture captures his feelings regarding my Alma Matter.

Hillarious

Warner gets slap-happy when he gets tired. It's so precious. We got him on video tonight before his bath (that's why he's naked) laughing at Kevin.

Chicago

Warner and I visited Chicago this past weekend. Kevin was in Bowling Green playing golf with his buddies so we decided to make the trip. We left Thursday afternoon and only made one stop in Indy to get gas/use the restroom/nurse which I thought was impressive. It took a little over five hours and Warner was a champ the whole time.

We didn't really do anything that exciting, just spent time with my parents, and then Justin and Jeremy when they arrived Friday. My mom and I drug poor Warner to Shaumberg for a shopping trip on Saturday which was quite successful (= Warner didn't have any meltdowns and I found cute clothes that my mom bought for my Mother's Day present). Saturday night we went to the cutest little Mexican restaurant in downtown Park Ridge, about 2 minutes from my parents house.

This was Warner's first trip to Grammie and Grandpa's house (how terrible is that?) and he enjoyed exploring the new place. Here he's playing with Grammie's spices in the kitchen.

My mom drove back with us on Sunday and unfortunately Warner wasn't as cooperative on the trip home. He started crying/fussing about 2 hours into the trip, so I sat in the back seat with him most of the way, trying to keep him happy. I tried feeding him and realized that wasn't the best idea in the car - it was a complete mess.

He was happy to be out of his car seat when we got home! My mom stayed with us until yesterday afternoon, when she left with her parents to go to the lake. Kevin, Warner, and I (and my dad) will join them on Friday. It has been so fun to have "Grammie" around, especially since she loves to babysit and I can get some things done! She even helped me mulch the yard yesterday - in the rain - so she wins the Mom of the Year Award for that.

I've lost track of how many times I've either called the pediatrician or taken Warner in to their office. I'm afraid I might be known at Primary Pediatrics as "the crazy woman" or something along those lines. The highlight of my neuroticism was back in January when I was convinced Warner had a brain tumor. But that's a whole other story for another day.

Yesterday Warner had a fever, his nose started running like crazy, and he was extremely irritable. I called the pediatrician and the nurse said to keep an eye on his fever and was afraid it might be an ear infection. I knew something was wrong last night when he was up most of the night and wouldn't stop crying. This is very uncharacteristic of our normally over-the-top-happy baby.

So, I took Warner in to see Dr. Harmeling this morning, and to my surprise, he doesn't have an ear infection. What he does have is hand, foot, and mouth. Now that's something I hadn't googled! The good news is it's virtually harmless, but the bad news is it causes mouth sores that are very uncomfortable (=baby that's up all night long crying) and since it's a virus there are no drugs to magically cure it. Bummer.

Since Warner's nose is running so much he's been breathing out of his mouth a lot. The funny part is he sticks his tongue out while he's doing it so he looks pretty funny.

And I had to include these pictures. Kevin's mom got Warner this hat on a recent shopping trip in Gatlinburg. Kevin's dad says baby baseball caps are a waste of material, but I disagree! Warner's so stinking cute in them!

Here he is sitting on the floor of our room while I get ready in the morning.


Warner and I leave for Chicago tomorrow to visit my parents for the weekend. Kevin is heading to Bowling Green for a guy's golf weekend with friends so I thought Warner would enjoy his first trip to the big city. I'll be sure to post pictures when we return.

Friday morning we headed to Somerset and Kevin picked up our two new golf carts (one is my parents', the other is ours) from a guy in town who "tuned them up" for us after we purchased them. The carts are for the golf course at Woodson Bend but also for rides around the complex. I'm not sure why, but most people who have a condo at The Bend own a golf cart too, and they use it instead of a car to get to the pool, lake, etc. And then in the evening, there is generally a parade of carts out for an evening ride. It's so much fun. So Friday night Warner took his first evening golf cart ride with Nanny and Grandaddy in his cart and Kevin and I in the other. He loved it.

Saturday morning we drove up to Lexington for lunch to celebrate Abby's 6th birthday (May 14th), Mother's Day, and to watch Abby and Ashley's dance recital that afternoon.

We had a blast except Warner got zero nap time so the ride back to Somerset that evening got a little loud for the last 30 minutes or so. Warner and I rode back with Joe and Linda to Woodson Bend and Kevin drove north to go home since he had to work Sunday. It was a gorgeous evening, so Linda and I sneaked in four holes of golf (with my dad, Justin, and Jeremy) while Joe watched Warner and my mom ran to the grocery. I stunk at golf (as usual) but Linda did teach me the "7 iron punch" around the green trick so I think I'm going to retire my pitching wedge. I never liked that club anyway.

Sunday we had a relaxing morning at the condo and then headed home with my parents to Burlington in the afternoon. They continued on to Chicago last night. Warner and Kevin got me a new wok for stir fry for Mother's Day which I'm pumped about since we have stir fry about once a week.


Here are a few a pictures of Warner after bath time. He likes to sit on his changing table now and play while I wrestle his diaper on and try to put lotion on him. His two bottom teeth are now visible and look so darn cute. And just yesterday he really started babbling more with consonants - "da da" and "ba ba". I'm afraid he'll say Dada before Mama. Oh well.

6 Month Pictures

I'm a bad mother. I've only had Warner's pictures taken professionally twice now. The first time was at Sears and he was 8 weeks old. They were good (of course because he is the cutest baby ever) but I wasn't overly happy with them. So, this time I feel a bit more on the ball since I had them taken at a normal interval (6 months) and they were done at Portrait Innovations which I liked much better than Sears.

Kevin went with us since today is his day off. This was probably a bad move as it's a general rule that we spend more money when he's making the decisions. But, we did get all the pictures on CD so here are a few of my favorites.

Why buy toys?

I went to Target on Monday and I really blew our new budget. Oops. Kevin and I are trying to follow Dave Ramsey's suggestions for our finances, which includes paying cash for everything - not even using a debit card. We started out pretty well, but the past month has been crazy and the debit card has been used on more than one occasion. For instance, by yours truly at Target.

I love Target. I love everything about the store. I have been on a mission to organize my pantry for quite some time, so I went there Monday with the intention of buying containers for the shelves. I came out of the store with: swim trunks, a swim shirt, and hat for Warner, a coffee maker, filters for the coffee maker, a shopping cart cover for Warner (I'd been looking for one of those and it was only $20 - elsewhere they were $40), running shorts for me, mascara, new toys for Warner, baby food, and a few containers for the blessed pantry.

Warner actually likes the new toys. They aren't anything over the top, just squishy blocks that he primarily chews on and stackable rings.



So I am a creature of habit and my diet is no exception. I generally eat oatmeal every morning, and Warner helps me prepare it. But as he was playing with the oatmeal container yesterday morning (while his toys were also available to him) I wondered why I bought him new toys in the first place.

I'm not quite sure how to start this post. We're finally back home after a wild few weeks. Meredith went to be with Jesus nearly two weeks ago now. Kevin, Warner, and I were there with her until the end, and while I am thankful we were able to be there, the memories of her last days still haunt me.

Meredith's funeral was beautiful (if a funeral can be beautiful). I think she would have been pleased with it. After the service, my parents, Justin, Kevin, Warner and I went to Lake Cumberland to my parents' new condo. We spent the week there and returned yesterday. It was a nice time, and we kept busy decorating the condo, playing golf, and spending time together. We saw Kevin's parents too, since they live in Somerset. I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time at the lake this summer with both my family and Kevin's. Warner continues to go with the flow and seemed to like the lake as much as he likes every other place.

As I face the days and weeks to come, I'm so very thankful that Warner is here to keep me busy! I don't have much of a chance to grieve the loss of my sister until quiet moments like these when Warner is asleep and Kevin is at work. But when I am alone and the house is quiet, I am reminded of our loss and feel especially empty. Thus, the blogging. It's quite therapeutic.


This picture instantly puts a smile on my face. Ha! Warner loves being on Kevin's shoulders. This was taken after dinner out in Somerset last week.


My mom, Warner, and I took a trip to Lexington last Tuesday to shop for condo items. Here Warner is enjoying his time at Target.


My friend Sarah Erdmann's mom gave Warner this inflatable duck for the bath. It's so great! Mine and Kevin's bathroom at the condo just has a shower - no tub - so this works perfectly. And Warner of course loves it. He also has light-up ducks for the bath that are terribly interesting to him, so ducks in general have gone over well so far. I'm hoping he'll enjoy the real ducks at the lake this summer.


This was taken at Meredith and Justin's house last month, but it was one of the first times I got a picture of Warner sitting up on his own. He's sitting up great now and I think he likes the new view of the world!

A few thoughts

It is one of those mornings where I can barely see through my swollen eyelids due to my poor tear ducts working overtime yesterday. I know everyone visits this blog to get updates on Warner, but I needed a place to put a few thoughts this morning. I will say that Warner is watching me as I type this, playing in his exer-saucer and trying to eat the sunglasses I bought him. He never wears those by the way – just eats them.

I am amazed at how quickly my precious sister has declined. I went home this past Tuesday and returned just 48 hours later to find a marked difference in Meredith. She’s yellow with jaundice, and not just her eyes – her face and arms are discolored. Her legs and ankles are swelling and her hair is so thin it’s nearly gone. She can barely keep her eyes open and has started saying things that don’t make sense. It is gut wrenching to watch.

Today Meredith will have a million visitors. Her close friends from high school and college are driving to Indianapolis to see her one last time. My cousin Melanie is coming in from Atlanta and my uncle and his family are making the trip from Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri. I pray they can handle what they see.

A few days ago I thought I was ready to let go, and actually asked God to take Meredith quickly, and without pain. Now I’m not so sure. Yes, I still don’t want her in pain, and I certainly can’t imagine her living this way for much longer. But I don’t think I’m ready to let go. Are we ever ready to let go?

I don’t think I’m angry with God. I was – trust me, I was for a very long time. I don’t understand why He hasn’t healed Mere and I suppose I’ll not know this side of Heaven. I am so thankful for Him during this process, as I simply can’t imagine going through this without His comfort and the assurance of seeing my sister again in Heaven. I am also thankful for Kevin and my family and am saddened when I think about people who go through these trials alone.

I pray I will come out on the other side of this a better woman, wife, mother, daughter, and friend. I’m not sure how we’re going to get through the weeks to come. But I have to trust God will sustain us.

Feet, Food, and Fun

Warner has discovered his feet. They weren't that interesting until a few weeks ago, and now he can't get enough of them! Whether he's on the changing table, in his red chair, the tub, or on the ground, he's looking for those things! This week I also unpacked some of our baby gifts that were previously not age appropriate. One gift was Warner's high chair, seen here. I had just put it together and strapped (yes, that's right, I fastened the straps) him in to see if he liked it. He does! Since then I've refrained from using the straps - he doesn't realize he can move his arms when he's strapped in. Poor little guy.
I also put our jogging stroller together this week. Talk about a cool gadget! I'll have to post a picture soon - it sort of reclines and Warner thinks he's hot stuff riding in it. There's also a speaker on it, so I just plug my iPod into it and go. I think Warner likes my Rap Playlist the best. :)
And I just had to include this photo. Our friends Bill and Christy Griesser got this shirt for Warner, all the way from London. It says "Lock up your Daughters!". Ha! Consider yourselves warned.

Trip to the Park

It's finally getting warmer here, so last week we took Warner to the park for the first time. We went to the Boone County Arboretum, which is one of my favorite places! I used to visit the Arboretum even when we lived 20 minutes away, and now we live about 5 minutes away, so it's great! It's beautiful - complete with a huge playground, paved walking trails, a kids garden, and much more. I imagine I'll be dragging Warner there quite often.
We're not sure if Warner was that impressed with the swings, but he didn't protest during the ride either, so that's a good sign.Last week we also took another trip to Indy. Meredith had a seizure and we learned that the cancer has spread to her brain. She was in the hospital twice during our 5 day stay, but is now home and receiving outpatient radiation treatments daily. I'm sure we'll be back to visit again soon. Kevin has been so supportive of our frequent trips to visit my sister, and Warner has been amazing. He never cries in the car, he plays patiently at the hospital or at Meredith's home, and he even sleeps pretty well in his pack and play at Mere's house. I am confident God knew we needed a mild-mannered, laid-back baby for this time in our lives. We are truly blessed.

Giddy Up

Warner's Easter present from Nanny & Grandaddy was money to buy a jumperoo. I wanted to buy one that hangs from a door frame, but we don't really have a good place to put one in our house. So, I went with this one, which I believe is much cooler - a horse! It actually makes horse noises too, but I haven't put the batteries in for that yet. Warner certainly likes it though, with or without noise! Take a look.

Food, Glorious Food! (Does anyone remember that song from Oliver?)

I fed Warner his first "real food" (if rice cereal can be considered real food) when we were in Florida. Here's the video - he wasn't so sure about it to begin with, but he ended up liking it!

Since then I've been feeding him cereal for dinner, and sometimes for breakfast - if he's in the mood. Most mornings eating cereal is simply not interesting enough for him. I took this picture tonight at dinner - he was big stuff, holding his spoon himself!